Los Jaivas – Tarka y Ocarina
Los Jaivas – Guajira Cosmica
Los Jaivas – Pregon Para Iluminarse
Picked this up during my trip to Spain and the lovely city of Granada. I originally just planned on staying there for one day, all of it spent at the Alhambra, but after my plans for the next day completely fell through I was able to explore the city a bit more, particularly several of its record stores. My favorite, hands down, was Discos Bora Bora (I’ll be sharing pictures from my trip tomorrow). Aside from that Modulos record I previously shared, the best thing I dug up there was this album from the Chilean group Los Jaivas.
I haven’t been able to find out too much info about the group, as they never made much of a splash here in the US. I’d originally though they were from Argentina (and even mentioned so in the first episode of the Melting Pot Radio Hour), but in fact they were formed in Chile. It was after the US Backed 1973 Coup, that the band left the country and settled in Argentina.
This album, their third, was the first recorded during that “exile” period. “Tarka y Ocarina” and “Pregon Para Iluminarse” feature their mix of Andean indigenous music and rather heavy Prog Rock. “Guajira Cosmica” also blends together a variety of styles before ending with some sonic flourishes that would be right at home in a 1970s Giallo film. And to think, if things had gone as planned, I would have never even known about this music, let alone the other records that I got in a place that now I rank as one of my favorite cities I’ve ever visited…life is funny.
